


Greetings From Alaska (Don't Wish You Were Here)

by yorkisms



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alaska, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Families of Choice, Found Family, Gen, Lesbian Meryl Silverburgh, Post-Shadow Moses, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sled Dog Racing, Three survivors with different daddy issues in one house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28190481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yorkisms/pseuds/yorkisms
Summary: He takes his gun with him as he heads for the door, dogs following after him curiously awaiting the reveal of whatever is going on. When he whips open the door, there's a woman he recognizes standing there, wearing a jacket that doesn't quite fit right, shivering in the cold. She's grown a bit since they last ran into each other, and it looks like she cut her hair with a combat knife or something."Meryl?""Hey, Snake. Can I come in?"After Shadow Moses, Meryl goes back to the continent for a bit, but turns back up where she fits in best.
Relationships: Meryl Silverburgh & Otacon, Meryl Silverburgh & Solid Snake, Otacon/Solid Snake
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	1. when nothing moves, all's well

**Author's Note:**

> After finishing MGS1 I got briefed on the rest of the series and was sorely disappointed at how found family baited I was thinking about these three leaving smoses together and getting to be a family of choice. Going through it with someone, after all, creates an incredible bond. 
> 
> So I've spent my time ignoring canon and imagining things between smoses and Philanthropy-era went a little like this. I haven't reworked Philanthropy era yet to fit this, but someday I will. I just like imagining these three domestic, familial, and with upwards of fifteen dogs.
> 
> Also bold of you to assume I can write.

There's a banging sound on their door that makes the dogs alert but not bark. David shoots awake and reaches for his gun before realizing that it's someone knocking, and someone that isn't scaring the dogs.

Next to him, his companion stirs a bit, starting to fumble for glasses on the bedside table.

"Dave-?"

"I'll check it out," he assures. "Take care of it. Go back to sleep, Hal, I'll wake you up if I need you."

He takes his gun with him as he heads for the door, dogs following after him curiously awaiting the reveal of whatever is going on.

When he whips open the door, there's a woman he recognizes standing there, wearing a jacket that doesn't quite fit right, shivering in the cold. She's grown a bit since they last ran into each other, and it looks like she cut her hair with a combat knife or something.

"Meryl?"

"Hey, Snake. Can I come in?"

David puts his gun away. "Yeah. Alright."

Meryl sits down at the kitchen table. She takes a pair of cheap aviator sunglasses off her head, setting them down, and digs the heels of her palms into her eyes. David decides to make her a can of cheap soup in silence.

"I thought you were going back to the continent with the colonel."

Meryl makes a face at the very mention of her uncle. "Change of plans. I need a place to stay, that's all."

"You don't have any other friends?" David cracks. She sticks her tongue out at him.

"Not like you." Something's on her mind, he can tell, but he doesn't press it. He sets a bowl of canned soup down in front of her. "Thanks," she says, to her credit. "Sorry for…fuck, I dunno. Showing up this late. Dragging you into the mess formerly known as my family. Everything."

"Did you have a fight?"

"Yeah." Meryl's always been headstrong, David thinks, but headstrong enough to trek out here to find him? Maybe not.

"Must have been one hell of a fight."

"I don't wanna talk about it right now," she replies quietly. "Look, I'll…try not to get in the way. I've caused you enough trouble for a lifetime."

"Hm. You're alright, rookie."

Meryl makes a face, sticking her tongue out again. "You're never gonna let me live any of that down."

"Nope."

"Dave?" Hal calls sleepily from the bedroom. "Who's that?"

Meryl raises her eyebrows, a delighted grin spreading across her face. David trips slightly on his reply. "Meryl, go back to sleep."

"Okay…"

"So," Meryl says, delighted to find something new to talk about. "You and Hal?"

"Meryl."

"It's cute!" she exclaims, offended that he would think anything else and cheerful that it's good news from her friends. "You two make a good pair. Opposites attract."

"Hm. Figured you might be jealous. Considering you had half a crush on me."

Meryl wheezes slightly. "Me? Come on, Snake, you really don't know how to read a lady. I bat for the other team- or, our team, I guess. I've always been into women."

"Glad you won't make this awkward, then."

"I won't do anything more than probably ruining your alone time by crashing here, scout's honor."

"Something tells me you weren't even a scout."

"I wasn't," Meryl replies cheerfully, "But still."

She eats the rest of her impromptu meal as fast as she can. David glances over at the couch. "You can have the couch for now."

"Sure. Thanks."

"We're talking about this in the morning."

"When Hal is awake to be involved?"

"Maybe."

"That's fair," Meryl says, and she picks up her duffel bag.

"Go back to sleep, Snake. I'll be fine."

\--

"Look at it," the accented voice says with a laugh.

Static prickles against her cheek from the TV screen. She tries to close her eyes, but when she starts to, her head is jerked back and then forced back up to the TV screen, forcing her to watch. Screams echo from the television. No words break the sound of torture.

"What is your hero now, little girl? Are you really so stupid as to keep defying us? Will it take you seeing us break him to end your rebellion?"

"Fuck you," she spits back.

Her head is pulled back and forced towards the screen again.

\--

Meryl wakes up, eyes shooting open. The curtains are half open, and the midnight sun is filtering in. She can hear someone eating at the kitchen table, spoon clinking against a bowl. She slowly sits up, fixing her mess of hair.

"Oh, h-hey. You're awake."

Meryl turns around, grinning broadly. "Hal!"

Hal Emmerich grins shyly as Meryl dashes over to give him a hug and a bit of a noogie. "Hey, Meryl- ahh, hey!"

"Ah, god, I missed you, you dork."

"You're joining us?"

"For the foreseeable future. What have you been up to?"

Hal shrugs. "Just…recovering, I guess. I've had a few ideas, but haven't put them anywhere yet…"

"I'm sure they're awesome," Meryl assures him, ruffling his hair a bit as she lets him go. Hal winces a little, reminded that Meryl has always been physically affectionate, a lot more than either him or David are used to. They first got to see it in their two week recovery from the Shadow Moses incident, where Meryl, even with a healing gunshot wound, would approach both of them from the front with big, friendly hugs and smiles. It's definitely not the first time they've dealt with it. (Weirdly, though, they both privately noted that that wasn't the case for anyone else they communicated with when preparing to send her back to her family.) Either way, they're used to her, even if they're not normally those kind of people like she is.

"What are you gonna do?" Hal asks.

Meryl shrugs. "Help out around the house, whatever you guys need. I've got some savings, so I can contribute if I need to. Sorry to interrupt your, uh, couples' retreat, but…desperate circumstances."

"It's okay," Hal says, even though he's mostly still on the fence about having Meryl here. "You can help Da- er, uh, Snake, with the dogs."

"I'm great with dogs," Meryl exclaims, "Not that I want to keep teasing him about that…"

"You should," Hal jokes cautiously. "It was kind of funny."

Meryl does a little dance in place from joy, before throwing her arms around Hal again.

"God dammit, I missed you."

There's a difference in hugs, Hal thinks, between a friendly hug and a genuine, wanting hug. He thinks it's that you can feel the person doing the hugging shaking a little as they do. Meryl is quivering a little. She's being genuine. She really did miss him, and wants so badly to be here now. So, because it would just be cruel to admit he had doubts at first, he simply hugs her back tight.

"It's good to have you back, Meryl."

Meryl manages to fit into their routine seamlessly, actually, much to the relief of the happy couple. She stays out of their way, and actually wingmans for both of them as much as she can- enough that they find it a little embarrassing. As per what they know, Meryl is their number one cheerleader. So they're back together. She sits on the couch with them while Hal puts on his shows, she helps with the dogs, she heats up dinner and makes sure everyone eats. It's nice. It's better than they anticipated, and they feel a little bad for doubting her ability to fit into their little family. -- Meryl gets two dogs from in town. They're wolfdogs, like a few of David's sled team, and somehow they only ever end up properly listening to her. They smother her when she sleeps on the couch, but she likes it anyway.

"I've been thinking," Hal says one night, in front of the TV. Meryl's leaning on the kitchen counter, her dogs at her feet, begging for the microwave popcorn she's heating up for everyone. Hal is curled into David's side.

"Bout what?" Meryl says.

"Going back out there," Hal says timidly. "I mean…there's so much still out there for us to do. People to help. REX won't be the last metal gear…"

Meryl makes a soft noise of acknowledgment, looking down at her folded arms. Peppy J-Pop plays from the TV as the theme for this episode starts.

"You think we could do anything about that?" is her response at last. All of them shut up for a bit, silence deafening, until a joke happens on the show that makes Hal giggle. When Hal giggles, David smiles, and cascading breaking of tension follows. They're good.

\--

David enters the living room later that night to check on one of the dogs who was acting like she might be a little ill. He crouches where it's sleeping, between his couch and coffee table, and gets a fist in the cheek. Meryl flicks a lamp on.

"Oh, shit, Snake-"

"Gonna have a shiner," he mutters. "It's fine, Meryl, let me get some ice."

Holding some frozen green beans to his face, he sits down on the opposite side of the couch from her.

"Fuck, Snake, I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault. Probably startled you. Hanabi's been acting off, wanted to make sure she wasn't sick on the floor." He pauses. "Meryl. I'm about to ask you something dangerous. Do you trust me?"

"Yeah," Meryl says, looking at the ceiling. She's not lying, though, she doesn't miss a single beat. "I do."

"Hm. Not your best choice."

"What's the point again, Snake?"

"Do you have nightmares?" he knows that for people like them, this is pretty much a rhetorical question. Night terrors make their home in this house, for all of them.

"Yeah." She knows it, too. She's well aware that this is just him confirming a suspicion that he's had for a long time.

"Can I ask what about?" Meryl looks more discomfited by that than by being asked if she trusts him or if she has issues.

"About you, mostly."

-but that answer isn't what he expected.

\--

You watch someone get tortured and it stays with you forever, especially if you're being forced to watch.

Being tied up by a hot enemy agent could be a very sexy roleplay, but the reality is a lot more jarring, intense, and painful.

The sound of screams and the bodily noises accompanying each dose of pain is seared into her memory. Being forced to watch her personal hero get broken down, bit by terrible bit. Slowly, despite herself, losing hope.

But it's almost inspiring to watch him hang on, to watch him survive.

Yet, the more often she revisits this, the longer she knows him, the more painful it is. Because it becomes less of the fall of a hero and more of the loss of a friend.


	2. a decision (they) can find a way to live with

It all clicks once she offers a few, uncomfortable, clarifying sentences.

"You can talk to me about it," he offers awkwardly. He doesn't talk to her or Hal about his problems, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't talk to him. They should. They deserve a chance at catharsis.

"Maybe another time, Snake. I just wanna go back to sleep right now. Is that alright?"

David nods. One of Meryl's dogs crawls up onto her chest, and she wraps her arms around it like a huge stuffed toy. She coos softly to it, calling it a baby and thanking it for its comfort. David puts the green beans back in the fridge as he heads back to his and Hal's room.

Hal notices the shiner the next morning, but lets it go when David insists it was an accident.

\--

David points out one morning that Meryl's wolfdogs, now that they've reached their full size, are strong enough to pull her on a solo run. She perks up at that idea and asks if he has a sled they can borrow.

Ever since, they go out at the same time every morning. The sled team needs to stretch their legs, and Meryl's dogs get a walk themselves. Sometimes Hal comes out with them, sleepily sitting in front of David on the bed of his sledge and flipping through a manga he's probably already read. Meryl keeps up with them on her own.

Around eleven the sun starts to rise, turning the snow orange and sparkling and playing through the nearby taiga treeline. Once they're less than a mile from getting home, David shouts a command to his dogs and they begin to sprint. Meryl clicks her tongue, and her dogs chase after. The sudden jolt startles Hal into further wakefulness, and he barely maintains his balance, avoiding falling out of the sledge. Meryl laughs, catching up with them. Pyla and Vega's paws beat against the snow, throwing up little plumes that splash Hal's legs. Hal squeaks a bit, scooting away from the side Meryl is passing them on.

"Don't make me drop my manga!" he says, voice cracking a bit.

"Sorry Hal," Meryl says, keeping pace.

"Race you home, rookie," David calls.

Meryl uses one hand to tell him where to stick that nickname. "You're on!"

The taiga opens up into the hilly terrain that means they both have half a mile to go. Meryl takes this as her cue, and speeds up. Hal takes a hint that they're racing now instead of having a morning run, and shoves his book back in his bag, securing himself in the bed of the sledge so that they don't have any more accidents.

"You better win," he grumbles, and David commands the dogs to give chase.

"Suck it," Meryl crows, hopping off the back of her sledge as they pull up back in front of the house, her dogs realizing that she's bailed and coming to a stop with confusion. She treks around to the front to unhitch them. "I'm getting the hang of this!"

"I think that was a photo finish," David says dryly, helping Hal out of the sled.

"I'm gonna go make tea," Hal says. "What do you guys want?"

"The usual," David says, and appends "Thanks, Hal," and a kiss on the cheek.

Meryl thanks him by way of thumbs up and says, "Whatever we've got!" She lets her dogs go inside after him once she's unhitched them, and helps David get the rest of his dogs calmed down, fed, and watered.

"Better break the routine tomorrow," David says as he checks his stash of dog food. "May need a supply run."

"Want us to come with?"

"Someone should hold down the fort," he says, annoyed at the situation. "I can do it myself."

"What, are you doubting that I can lift your five bags of dog food?"

"No. Look at it this way, I'm believing that leaving Hal here with you is safe."

"Wow. That was very glass-half-full of you. I kinda like it. Okay, fine, if it'll make you feel better."

"Meryl, just finish getting Penny's harness off."

"Killjoy," Meryl mutters. The door to the house opens, and they both look up. Hal is standing there with Pyla.

"Uhm, Meryl? Phone for you."

Meryl grimaces. "Great. I'll be right back, Snake."

"No problem." He directs Penny back into the kennel and shuts the gate. "That wouldn't be the colonel, would it."

"Probably," she says, shoving her hands in her pockets and walking back up towards the house. "But I sure wish it wasn't."

Inside the house, Meryl picks up her crappy cell phone that she probably should have broken when she came up here. But she wasn't running from any conspiracy or spy, just from her family. Of course, when it comes to Roy Campbell, those are probably the same thing. Maybe she was a little naïve.

"Hey?"

"Who was that?"

Meryl makes a face. He must mean Hal. Hal looks questioningly at her. It's just like her uncle to forget people. Meryl, as the rookie on Shadow Moses, in the week leading up to the incident often got stuck with night shift security outside the lab. Hal, of course, was a chronic workaholic and insomniac. She didn't know him particularly well then, but she looked fondly enough upon "Dr. Emmerich," considering that he was always polite to her and asked if he should bring her a snack. Unlike her uncle, Meryl has a better mind for people.

"Not really your business," she replies, miming gagging to Hal, who snorts with amusement and returns to his tea water.

"Meryl, look, we need to talk-"

"You thought I was bluffing," she interrupts conversationally. Hal passes her a cup of oolong tea, which she raises in the universal gesture of 'cheers' to thank him. She takes a sip before continuing. "When I said I wasn't coming home again. Man, you really don't know anything about me." She sets the tea down on the counter next to her as David enters through the front door, shaking off snow as the dogs greet him as if they haven't seen him in years.

"Look, I said I was leaving and that I didn't want to talk anymore, so what part of that is unclear?"

"We just want to know that you're okay. Who are you staying with, and-"

"Right," Meryl says flatly, "So you can find another retired special operative to torment into coming to get me? It's not like I didn't already tell you that that was incredibly amoral-"

"The circumstances surrounding Shadow Moses were different, Meryl-"

"Actually, it wasn't different. You're just that good at blaming other people for your problems. And not admitting that you don't know a thing about me. If you know so much about who I am and what I like, then come get me yourself. I think the answer would be pretty damn obvious."

"You can't do this to us."

"I'll give you a hint," she snarks, voice sharp. "I've met a man and we're moving to Tahiti to get married and live happily ever-fucking-after as the dictatorial king and queen. Good luck, old man." She snaps her phone shut, and then looks at Hal and David. "Sorry, guys."

David gives her a half smile. "Your fight was about me?"

"Among other things," she admits sheepishly. "I'm glad you were there, and that we've got each other, sure. But he didn't really give you a choice, did he?"

David shrugs, hanging up his jacket. "It turned out alright."

"Doesn't mean I can't tell him he was fucked up to put you in that position."

"Remind me not to get on your bad side, rookie."

"I'm gonna pour your green tea down the sink," Meryl declares. "Before you can get your boots off."

Hal picks David's cup up, jerking it back as Meryl jokingly lunges. "Hey! Ah! Come on, I spent time on this!"

"C'mere, Otacon!"

"Snake!" David kicks off his boots during the scuffle and rushes over to playfully headlock Meryl. She snorts, wiggling out of his grip.

"Playfight on the carpet," Hal whines. "I can't have either of you getting blood on the kitchen floor."

Meryl ducks into the living room, which, fortunately, is carpeted with ancient floors that probably contain a bit too much dog fur and cigarette residue. "Alright, now try me!"

Hal finishes his drink in the kitchen as the two jocks in the house playfight in the living room with only minimal casualties to the coffee table. When they reach a lull, he clears his throat. "Guys, your tea's gonna get cold."

"Oh, shit," David mutters, flipping to his feet in a way that definitely makes Hal blush. "Thanks for the reminder."

"You guys are the best," Meryl agrees, tugging her shirt back down and returning to her drink. "Thanks for putting up with me."

\--

The calls from Roy become a little more frequent, and Meryl hangs up on most of them. David comments once or twice that he thinks it might be worth it to try and tell him to fuck off again, but Meryl doesn't feel quite like it, mostly because whenever she does it's like talking to a brick wall. Though one morning David takes Hal to the post office in town to pick up some stuff Hal ordered and get groceries, leaving her alone with the dogs, and Roy calls. She doesn't have anything better to do right now, so she just picks up.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, thank god, Meryl. You haven't answered in a while."

"Wait, okay, let me guess. You have someone from the CIA with you right now tracing my call so that you can figure out where I am. Am I right?"

"…no."

"Liar," Meryl says. "Why can't you just accept that I don't want to do this anymore?"

"Meryl, you're my daughter, I-"

"Nope," she interrupts, popping the P sound. "I disowned you when I left, remember?"

She still calls him her uncle when talking to David and Hal about it, but just because it's easier. Everything she could have ever liked about him turned to disgust in their last fight. After Shadow Moses, their relationship had changed. Her foxhole siblinghood with Solid Snake had irked Roy, and in his attempts to win Meryl back over had just screwed with her PTSD and pushed her away. The final straw was him confessing to being her biological father. Whereas before she thinks she might have been able to forgive him, all she felt was revulsion. Her father, as far as she was concerned, was Matt Campbell, and he died in Desert Storm four months before she was born. There was no reason for either Roy or her mother to just lie, to keep up the image of her father when it wasn't even true. Meryl always hated liars.

Everything spilled out in that argument, or at least, almost everything. She told him that he was disgusting for expecting her to stay the same, or expecting a naïve army brat out of her. He told her that he did what was necessary, including having some of Snake's dogs killed for extraction purposes. She, animal lover, had told him that he was a monster as well as a liar. And, as she had already told David, that as far as he was concerned she died at Shadow Moses. She packed a bag in a fury with her mother begging her to stop and apologize. She took two hundred dollars in cash, her passport, and marched out the door, slamming it behind her.

She spent a week on the road through Canada. She knew the place that David lived. She had crashed there for a few days after Shadow Moses before heading to the nearby town for a pickup at the local airport. And all the friends she had made in high school wouldn't really understand what was going on with her. Military conspiracies, an ex-spec-ops foxhole brother who's some kind of super soldier, a socially awkward weapons engineer- they wouldn't know how to deal with her stories. They were all civvie kids who stayed civvies, and Meryl needed to be around someone who would. Or two someones.

She's felt the weight of this lift by spending time with Hal and Dave, giving back to them for the trouble her family caused them. With Shadow Moses. With war. With their contributions to Metal Gear. She has her own demons to pull out of the world. She can start with replacing that family of hers.

"That's not what you meant, Meryl, sweetie. It's not fair of you to just say that."

"Oh- for the love of fuck can you tell me one thing about me that you actually, truly know?" The silence is absolutely deafening. Meryl sighs, closing her eyes in frustration. "Fuck's sake…you want a list while I wait on the g-man to tell you what you should already know?" she inhales. "I always wanted a puppy when I was a kid, but mom said no because you hated dogs that don't do work. And even more, at that age, you always bought me Disney princess crap, but I never wanted it. I shoved it in a box in the back of my closet and played street fighter. I knew I was lesbian when I was ten, when I watched The X-Files and decided that Agent Scully was really pretty and I wanted to totally marry her. Kid crushes, right? When I was twelve I picked up roller derby," She continues, standing up, starting to pace the living room, getting lost in her rant. "Roller derby. I came home with a big trophy from the county underground finals and you didn't say anything about it when you visited. I dated the jammer of the team for three years. Her name was Jules but she went by Lady MacDeath. You walked in on us once holding hands on the couch and watching The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love. I had my head on her chest and we were playing with each others' hair. We had to get the DVD contraband because it was so hard to find a lesbian movie. Fuck's sake, you saw a scene of kissing. We broke up when it was time for me to go to basic and her to go to college. I performed in derby til I had to ship out. I was the best there is at knocking people over and giving other girls bruises they wouldn't fucking forget. My favorite gun is the desert eagle, I am not your princess, not your little girl anymore, and I definitely wasn't what you think I am. I've got friends here with me. So take a goddam hint," Meryl swings the phone in front of her face so that she can shout at top volume. "STOP CHASING AFTER ME LIKE A CLINGY EX, GROW UP, AND ACCEPT THAT YOUR DAUGHTER IS A DERBY-PLAYING, BAD-GUY-PUNCHING, DOG LOVING LESBIAN WHO GOT A BETTER FAMILY THAN YOU EVER WERE! OR EVER COULD BE! I AM LOVED HERE! I AM WANTED HERE, I WANT TO BE HERE, AND I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" She presses the end call button, and then hears the door shut.

Hal and Dave are back. Hal drops a bag of groceries on the floor.

Meryl stiffens, dropping the phone. "Sorry…? I thought you guys were out still."

"Did you really play roller derby?" is what David says, before realizing that that's really not what he should be taking away from that entire conversation.

"Meryl," Hal says.

"We don't have to talk about it," she offers, giving the more emotionally awkward present a chance to dip out of figuring out the fact that she just called them family. To her surprise, Hal stumbles through kicking off his shoes and runs up to Meryl so fast he trips over his own feet and flings his arms around her.

"When people yell like that, they mean what they're saying," Hal says, embarrassed. "That was…just really nice to hear."

Meryl hugs Hal back, less aggressive than her usual. "I'll extol your virtues as a person next time, buddy."

Hal laughs, eyes wet. "I think if you do that I will literally start crying, so please don't."

"Meryl." She looks over at David, who has quietly removed his coat and shoes. "Thanks."

She holds out one arm, and David sighs before joining them. "Family, huh? I don't have a good track record about that."

"In case you couldn't tell, I certainly don't," Meryl points out.

Hal, squished between them now, shrugs a bit. "…me either."

"That's fine," Meryl says. "Mulligan."

She helps them pick up dropped groceries off the floor and put them away. Dinner that night is boxed mac and cheese with canned soup, but for the first time they make it together, with Hal working the oven and watching the water boil while Meryl heats up cans of soup and David makes sure nothing catches fire between either of them.

There's X-Files reruns on the single cable station. Meryl, overjoyed, confesses to Hal what she said earlier about having a crush on Agent Scully. He perks up a bit.

"It's not really anime, but…"

"It's pretty awesome, right?"

"It's really well written! Gone downhill lately…"

"But the early episodes!"

"Deep throat?"

"MR X?"

David just looks between them with confusion, and Meryl turns up the volume. "Okay, okay, okay, listen Snake-"

"Dave."

"Huh?"

"We're family, right? So use my name."

"Dave," Meryl says. "I'll get used to it. Listen, Dave, so there's two FBI agents who investigate the paranormal, right?"

"Mhm."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dog names:   
> Pyla: The largest sand dune in Europe. About the closest I could get to a "Desert" name.   
> Vega: "Eagle."   
> Penny: Tribute to a friend's puppy. Unfortunately, the real live Penny isn't a husky.


	3. and the dried-up flowers are so beautiful (and it applies to all things living and dead)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to post, in addition to this, my bonus scribbles about some shared domesticity between these three surrounding birthdays. Since they all have different forms of family issues they probably all avoided the topic for a while before ending up doing birthdays anyway.
> 
> I also like giving characters star signs, it's funny to me, so Snake is a gemini (haha twin jokes), Otacon is a cancer, and Meryl is a sagittarius.

David's birthday, at least, according to him, is in May.

Knowing that it's a touchy subject for him, the idea of his origins, Hal and Meryl keep it simple.

They take a two day camping trip, dogs babysat by a distant neighbor who doesn't ask too many questions. Alaska has already started to warm up by then, so they don't need heavy coats and the dogsleds have wheels instead of skis. The ground is still made of permafrost, but it isn't good enough to have snow to sled on. Hal has to ride behind Dave, holding on to him, because the camping gear is in the bed of the sled where he normally sits when they go for a run.

They take their camping trip at a nearby lake. The ice has already broken for the spring, and David brought fishing rods. He's good at catching dinner, fortunately, but Hal and Meryl aren't so lucky. Hal is too clumsy with the rods and gets some superficial cuts from the hooks that David has to bandage for him. Meryl gets too impatient and tells David that he's a psychopath if he thinks this is fun. She proceeds to go spend time with the dogs, who are tied to some of the trees with food and water for the foreseeable future. Meryl is good at other things, like building a fire, so she takes care of that.

"You two ever go camping?" David asks while he chars one of the fish over the fire.

"No," Hal admits. "Not…too many logistics, for my family."

"Yeah," Meryl says, "But not like this, like, the pussy-fied version of camping- and not in the good way, I know that's a weird thing for someone who likes pussy to say."

David snorts. "So a campground at Yellowstone with a communal bathroom?"

"What were you, watching me?"

"I know the type. I went to a few, but I always wanted to go further. I think I was the only guy in my platoon who enjoyed survival exercises."

Meryl, the only other one to know exactly what he's talking about, gags. "I can't imagine what having a younger, more insufferable David excited to go sit in the muck for 7 days would be like."

"Aren't you having fun, Meryl?" David asks teasingly.

"I'm having fun because I have sixteen dogs, more total supplies than survival training ever gave us, and two very good friends. But we might have miscalculated taking Hal up this far. Probably should have started with a Yellowstone communal bathroom."

Hal looks a little queasy at the thought of that. "Actually, I'm alright."

"Oh, phew."

"Besides," he continues, perking up a bit, "It's fun because it's what Dave likes, and it's his weekend."

It's going to be light out for many more hours. David finishes the fish. "Order up."

"Remind me what your plan was tomorrow?" Meryl asks through a mouthful of fish.

"There's a path up around the lake that's gorgeous. Not too much for Hal. Take a walk, come back, pack up."

"Rad," Meryl says. "You two wanna go on ahead of me or not?"

"Stick together, it's easier."

"I've done survival training too," Meryl mutters, annoyed.

"Rather not have to track you out here."

"Happy birthday, Dave," Hal says.

They present him with actual presents before they turn in for the night.

Meryl got him an enamel keychain that's shaped like a husky with a bandanna. While it sounds cheap, none of them comment on the fact that it has the date Meryl arrived at the cabin on it, and a small inscription.

> _29 Dec 2005_
> 
> _"I'll tell you what you did for me- you went for happy, silly, beautiful walks with me."_

The quote, David loosely recognizes. It's quite a Meryl thing to reference, the idea of their time spent together being more than enough. He worries, sometimes, that he's a bad influence on her, teaching her how to be like him. To be a soldier, such as it is. A monster, like him. But it seems that that's all she wants, even now, when he's no longer the idol she worships and just someone she cares about. He rather suspects it's her way of saying that she's thankful for him. That his support got her through, and that she's here for him too. That she doesn't think of him that way, even if he does. 

Hal gets him a volume of Sailor Moon that centers on the character he had admitted was his favorite. It makes him smile. The book ends up dog-eared and beaten in the way only a book that is desperately loved can be. Like Meryl, there's a note inside professing love, but instead of being indirect and more familial, this one is slightly more explicit.

> _Dave, I love you, and don't forget that trip to Jupiter_
> 
> _-Hal._

David doesn't admit it, but the attention to his likes and dislikes and the personalization that speaks of how they both care about him is touching, even for a day he normally ignores or drinks away. For the first time in as long as he can remember, he's happy on his birthday.

* * *

Hal's birthday is in the beginning of July.

He almost neglects to mention it, but David catches him out and asks Meryl to please help him prepare something nice. And Meryl, in a way that's typical of her trying to show support for them, goes all out.

Hal, like David, has a sense towards his birthday ranging between apathy and distaste. His relationship with his family being terrible in a completely different way that he still hasn't elaborated on to either of them. Hal, though, has a set of interests that's easy for the clever mind of a scheming lesbian to help his boyfriend pander to.

David pays back his own birthday present with a collector's box set of Tokyo Mew Mew. Hal is so overjoyed by it that his excitement is too great to contain in his body, and works its way out through excited hand motions, stumbling over speech, and fidgeting.

"I had to let him have the better present," Meryl admits. "Sorry about that."

She got him the soundtrack from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha on CD.

Looking at it, Hal realizes that this was only released in Japan less than six months ago, and the lengths Meryl must have gone to to get her hands on it, and bursts into tears.

"Aw, shit- Hal, c'mon, don't cry!"

"You guys are so sweet," he says, fumbling with his glasses as he tries to push them out of the way to wipe his tears. "Is this what it feels like?"

"What what feels like?"

"To…" he finally pushes his glasses up to his forehead so he can keep wiping his eyes. "…have people who listen to you."

Meryl's face softens a bit. "Yeah. It's a surprise for me too."

"I promise this is happy crying," he mumbles. "You guys are too good to me…"

"We are exactly as good as you deserve," David says firmly. "In fact, maybe not enough."

"You're gonna make me cry more," Hal whines, voice thick. What seals the deal for his tears is knowing- just knowing- that no one he grew up with in that hell house, that hell family, would have taken the time to find these things for him. Except maybe EE, but she had her own struggles, and he can't blame her for that.

"You're allowed to cry," David says, which is brave words from someone who hates to express anything worse than anger in front of them. "We aren't going to take these back, though. They're yours."

"I don't expect you to," Hal replies, wiping his eyes. "I just…" he breaks off. "My father and s…stepmother would never have gone to so much trouble."

"Well, we're not either of them," Meryl says declaratively. "That's your boyfriend, and I'm both of you guys' stupid lesbian. And we pay attention to what you like."

"Glad you're not," Hal manages, before starting to cry out of happiness again. David pats him on the back until he calms down.

"Come on, Hal, we can watch your show."

For the rest of the day they watch Tokyo Mew Mew. Meryl sings along badly to the theme in order to make Hal laugh again, and eventually, her terrible attempts at Japanese win him over, even though they make David grimace.

* * *

Meryl's birthday is a long time later, in December.

They go dog racing during the day, since Meryl loves the feeling of flying over the tundra- it's clear that spending so much time training with David and the dogs has got her hooked.

When they get home, there's some things waiting for them that they picked up from town the previous day. A DVD of Die Hard from the local Blockbuster, microwave popcorn, bagel bites, and their presents. Meryl cheers when she sees the loot, even though her presents are still wrapped, and sits down on the couch. Her dogs jump up beside her, and she looks at David.

"Oh great and mighty Solid Snake, my sworn oath-brother, breaker of bones, puncher of Ocelots, fucker-upper of terrible biological fathers-"

"I'll heat up the popcorn," David interrupts with a sigh.

Meryl grins brightly. "Thank you!"

Hal squeezes in next to the dogs. "I've…never really seen Die Hard before. Is it your favorite movie?"

"Mmm, I don't know about favorite, but it's pretty good. Plus, tis the season!"

"Is…is it Die Hard season?"

"Yeah! It takes place in the winter. I mean, there's no snow, since it's in Los Angeles, but…"

"Meryl," Snake calls from the kitchen. "Open your present before you forget. It's from both of us."

"Don't you wanna come get the live reaction?"

"I'll be there in a second, just get started."

"Okay!" Meryl picks up the one present on the table, a large box that barely fits on her lap. "Jeez, what'd you guys put in here, a puppy?"

"We don't need any more puppies," Hal says firmly. "Even though they're adorable."

"Damn." Meryl pulls open the lid of the box and starts laughing, her eyes wet. "Dammit, Dave! I don’t have a place to use these here!"

"Look underneath them," Hal urges.

Meryl lifts up a pair of roller skates with a subtle, retro-rainbow pattern to reveal matching ice skates. "That's a lot more current," she jokes, but she's clearly flattered.

David leans against the counter on her side, looking at her as she examines them. "Couldn't get it out of my head that you said you did roller derby for eight years. You're going to have to show me some moves."

"I don't know if ice skates work the same," she says, "But find me a decently paved surface in buttfuck nowhere, Alaska, and I'll show you what it looks like."

"You're on," David says. "I'm going to hold you to that."

It's half a year before they get use out of the skates, and it's long after they leave Alaska. When Hal founds the infant, unnamed Philanthropy, and the sled dogs have been rehomed except for Meryl's, they stop in an empty superstore parking lot to check the map and Meryl shows off for a bit, refreshing everyone's spirits. After the show, Hal finds the road they're looking for a lot easier than before. But it doesn't matter that they're not useful the moment she gets them- it's the thought that counts.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [maggie-wittington](http://maggie-wittington.tumblr.com)
> 
> Over there is where I answer questions about things I've written, chat about fandoms I'm into, and there's more information about supporting my writing.


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